When identifying mushrooms it is best to cross-reference the identification with at least two sources. My take on it is that if you are in any doubt don’t eat them. I will only eat mushrooms I have gathered if I have a 100% certainty that they are edible if they look if I have any doubt I don’t eat them. Wood Blewits in some mushroom books are noted as ‘choice’ and edible but one out of four references I found claimed they could cause a slight upset for some. I took this as an acceptable risk and fed four people as a starter and none of us were adversely affected.

Serves 4-6 as a starter with crusty bread

Ingredients

300g of Wild Mushrooms

A small carton of single cream (200ml)

A teaspoon of mustard

A few generous twists of black pepper

An onion

3 cloves of garlic

Some olive oil

A little butter

Method/Procedure

1. If using Wood Blewits it is advisable to cook them thoroughly, sweat them down in some olive oil for at least ten minutes, with the mustard and some black pepper. If using normal mushrooms they only need to be softened.

2. Then purée using a liquidizer.

3. Gently brown the onions and garlic in a pan and with some butter and a little olive oil for 5-10 minutes until the onion is soft.

4. Add the mushroom purée and the carton of cream and reduce down for 10-20 minutes trying not to let the liquid boil.

5. Once the pate is thick and creamy it is ready to serve and can be eaten warm or allowed to cool and consumed within 24 hours.

With a slight variation of this recipe wild mushroom soup can be made. Simply omit the cream and use a pint of milk (500ml) instead.

Article written by Dave Hamilton. Dave has now left Selfsufficientish but you can catch up with him on davehamilton.me.uk or on twitter @davewildish